Spieth takes another run at Grand Slam

ST. LOUIS—The spotlight was downright searing when Jordan Spieth arrived at Quail Hallow last summer, fresh off a victory at Royal Birkdale that had put him on the precipice of the career Grand Slam.

He didn’t wilt. Didn’t even wither.

Spieth just didn’t win, putting together four consistent-if-unspectacular rounds that left him tied for 28th, well behind good buddy Justin Thomas. It was a good PGA Championship for a player that had come to expect greatness or at least have greatness

expected of him.

But it also meant an entire year waiting for another shot at the Slam.

“I think I was probably a little more anxious last year, just because there was a big focus right after winning the Open Championship,” Spieth said Tuesday as thunder boomed and rain pelted Bellerive Country Club, washing out many practice rounds. “I was fresh, in form, going to a place where if I worked up the leaderboard I could create a lot of noise.”

That noise? It’s softened considerably during the last year, and the spotlight that accompanied him to Quail Hallow shines a little less brightly on Spieth in St. Louis.

He’s yet to win since Royal Birkdale, the missed cuts becoming too frequent for comfort. He looked as if he might be turning the corner at the British Open last month when he shot 65 on Saturday to surge into contention, but a birdie-less Sunday and finalround 76 dropped him to the wayside.

He followed that with three rounds in the 70s at the Bridgestone Invitational last week, leaving him a full 20 shots off the pace — and outside the top 20 for the eighth consecutive event.

“I’m a little under the radar this year, and I don’t mind it,” Spieth acknowledged, “but at the same time, this tournament will always be circled until hopefully I win it one day.”

The 25-year-old Spieth has only taken that one crack at joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods in completing the modern Grand Slam. But history suggests that if he doesn’t lift the Wannamaker Trophy soon, Spieth might never accomplish the feat.

Nicklaus needed just three tries after winning the PGA in ‘63 to win his first British Open, and Player likewise needed three tries after the ‘65 U.S. Open to win his first British.